Community Corner

Michael Moore, Longtime Wife Split in Acrimonious Divorce

The celebrity Michigan couple reportedly bickered over renovations costs to a luxurious mansion, dubbed "the house that Roger built" after Moore made millions on "Roger & Me" and other movies criticizing capitalism.

Filmmaker Michael Moore, the Flint native who founded the now shuttered alternative biweekly the  Flint Voice in the 1970s and went on to produce documentaries “Roger & Me,” “Bowling for Columbine,” “9/11 Fahrenheit” and others, has divorced his wife of 22 years, Kathy Glenn.

The split was finalized Tuesday in Antrim County Circuit Court in Bellaire, not far from the celebrity couple’s mansion in Traverse City, The Detroit News reports.

A settlement reached Tuesday means the couple, who met during Moore’s days at the muckraking Flint Voice and whose fathers worked together on a General Motors auto assembly line, won’t have to publicly air their dirty laundry. They separated in 2010.

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Moore, 60,  accused Glenn, 56, of expanding the couple’s $2 million, 10,0000-square-foot Torch Lake home, at five times the amount she said it would be.

The lake property, one nine properties the couple owned in Michigan and New York, was big even by tony Traverse City standards and was a party spot frequented by Madonna, Bruce Willis and Kid Rock.

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Some called the mansion “the house that Roger built,” because Moore made millions in his first feature-length documentary, “Roger & Me” chronicling the decision by then General Motors CEO Roger Smith’s decision to shutter the plant at Flint, resulting in the loss of 30,000 jobs.

In 731 documents filed in the proceedings, Moore demanded that Glenn produce all documents from a private investigator he believes she filed, and claimed that his now former wife snooped in his emails and other private messages.

Moore’s lavish lifestyle – he has a net worth of $50 million, according to CelebrityNetWorth.com – raised eyebrows among the conservative Traverse City area residents, who said Moore protrayed himself as a common man, but made millions criticizing capitalism.

“He criticizes capitalism, but capitalism made him rich, Gary Tracy, owner of Bellaire Bait and Tackle told The Detroit News. “Why he decided to live in this conservative area, I have no idea.”

“He is not a common man,” added another resident, Nancy Schwalm. “No way.”

» Read the full story on detroitnews.com.



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